Check control



Sept. 28, 1965 c. R. MESSER 3,208,479

CHECK CONTROL Filed Jan. 28, 1964 INVENTOR. CHESTER R. MESSER BY ;fl40' *WMW C ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,208,479 CHECK CONTROL Chester R. Messer, Concord, N.H., assignor to Page Belting Company, Concord, N.H., a corporation of New Hampshire Filed Jan. 28, 1964, Ser. No. 340,710 4 Claims. (Cl. 139165) This invention comprises a new and improved check control for the picker stick employed in actuating the shuttle of a loom.

In the copending application Serial No. 286,799, Grav-. itt, of applicants assignee Page Belting Company, is disclosed and claimed a check control in which a closed loop is mounted to slide upon a guide rod or rods curved or inclined at both ends toward the loom. While such a construction marks a certain advance in the development of check controls I have now made the surprising discovery that further and important advantages are to be derived by so shaping the guide rod that the drag of the loop on the rod in the power or shuttle actuating stroke of the picker stick is reduced or eliminated while the frictional drag of the loop is increased in the reverse or idle stroke of the stick.

It will be readily seen that in the shuttle actuating stroke the full power of the stick should be available. It should not be reduced by frictional or cramping drag of the band. On the other hand in the reverse stroke of the stick it is important only to reduce the momentum thereof and to bring the stick smoothly to rest. Hence it is advantageous to build up the drag of the loop during this reverse stroke.

I have discovered that this may be efficiently and simply accomplished by imparting a novel configuration to the guide rod, that is to say, by giving it a short central attaching portion that merges into oppositely inclined guide portions extending to the respective ends of the rod. Thus by laterally displacing the leading end of the band on the rod toward the plane of oscillation of the picker stick the frictional drag of the strap is reduced, while by laterally displacing the leading end of the band away from the plane of the stick the frictional drag and binding of the strap is increased at just the moment in the cycle where it is most desired.

Thus by appropriately shaping the guide rod it is readily possible to increase or reduce the frictional drag of the strap during any selected portion of either the power stroke or the return stroke of the picker stick.

The result of fashioning the guide rod to give these differing and beneficial effects in its working and reverse strokes is that a loom so equipped may be operated at a higher rate of speed than heretofore and that the life of the strap is substantially increased so that down time is reduced in the operation of the loom. In the textile industry the slightest increase in the speed of the loom is a matter of great moment and consequently the improvement of the present invention is of substantially commercial significance.

These and other features and characteristics of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the check control loop in its position at the end of the reverse stroke of the picker stick, and

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the check control loop in its position at the end of the working stroke.

In the drawings the picker stick is shown in cross section in two different positions and its plane of oscillation is indicated by the dotted lines in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The loop member of the assembly includes a pair of superposed straps 11 and 12 of which the outer strap -11 may be formed of heavy laminated webbing, such as rubberized canvas, and the inner strap 12 may be of high grade flexible leather /8 to /1 inch in thickness or thereabout. At each end of the loop the straps are reinforced by overlapping tongues or helpers 13 and 14 lying inside the loop and tending somewhat to cushion the impact of the picker stick and to reinforce the loop as a whole. Outer plates or flanges 15 and 16 are employed to reinforce the ends of the loop together with inner plates 17 and 18. The ends of these straps and reinforcing members are brought into registration and permanently secured together by rivets 19 and 20. The ends of the loops thus formed are connected by a tie strap 21 secured to the loop at its ends by books 22. The ends of the loop are perforated for the reception of a guide rod 30, 31, 32 and in practice the latter is sup ported by a bracket 23 from a portion of the loom frame. The rod is countersunk on the side toward the picker stick to receive a bolt 24 with its head in flush position.

The guide rod, which in its entirety is designated by reference character 29, comprises a straight central section 30 which merges at its left end as herein shown into an end portion 31 concave and converging toward the plane of picker stick oscillation. At its other end the straight central portion 30 merges into an end portion 32 which is convex and divergent with respect to the plane of oscillation. The guide rod 29 carries at its outer ends bumper heads 33 and 33 and these limit the sliding movement of the loop upon the guide rod. It will be seen that the ends of the loop are most freely slidable upon the guide rod when they extend substantially at right angles thereto and that the cramping effect of the loop upon the guide rod is substantially increased as the angular relation becomes acute.

In FIG. 1 the picker stick is represented as having completed its return stroke and as having therefore engaged the loop at the maximum distance from the guide rod thereby causing the leading end of the loop to become inclined with respect to the guide rod section 31 and thus to increase its cramping and retarding effect on the loop. This action tends to overcome the momentum of the stick and bring it to rest smoothly and gradually at the end of its reverse stroke as limited by the bumper head 33. The retarding effect on the loop may be also somewhat increased by the cramping of its trailing end on the guide rod.

On the other hand, in its working or power stroke, the picker stick engages the loop at points nearer and nearer to the converging end portion 31 of the guide rod, tending to maintain the leading end of the loop at right angles to the rod where it will develop little or no cramping effect.

The central section 30 of the guide rod may be of any desired length, for example from three inches to five inches, and in practice the end sections, or either of them, may have an inclination of 7 to 15 with respect to the center section. It will be seen that one result of the inclined guide rod sections is to shift laterally the point of contact of the picker stick and loop with respect to the points of sliding connection of the loop and guide rod. This of course is true of the device whether it includes in its organization a single guide rod or a double guide rod as shown in the copending application above identified.

One of the most important advantages of my improved check control is due to the relief it affords to the duty of the loop in the working stroke of the picker stick. Heretofore excessive wear in this stroke has generally caused premature failure and breaking of the loop. The

construction herein disclosed has the effect of equalizing wear in the two strokes and so substantially increasing the overall life of the loop.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A check control for a picker stick, comprising a guide rod, constructed and arranged to be centrally supported in a loom at a point adjacent to the plane of oscillation of the picker stick and having connected guide portions oppositely inclined with respect to said plane at opposite sides of its point of support, and a strap perforated near its ends to slide on the inclined portions of the rod whereby its ends are shifted laterally as it is slipped to and fro on the rod by the action of the picker stick.

2. A check control as described in claim 1, further characterized in that the guide rod has a short central attaching portion that merges into oppositely inclined guide portions extending to the respective ends of the rod.

3. A check control for a picker stick operating in a loom, comprising a guide rod having a central attaching portion for supporting the rod at a point near the plane of oscillation of the picker stick, and a strap shaped at its ends to engage and slide on the rod, the said rod being so inclined as to shift the leading end of the strap nearer and nearer to the said plane of stick oscillation in the shuttle-actuating stroke of the stick, and further and further away from said plane in the reverse stroke of the stick.

4. In a check control for a picker stick operating in a loom, a guide rod having a short central supporting portion perforated and countersunk to receive an attaching bolt and merging smoothly at the ends of its supporting portion into oppositely inclined guide portions extending to the respective ends of the rod.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,666,455 1/54 Gravitt 139165 2,796,890 6/57 Plante et al. 139166 2,855,004 10/58 Shivell 139165 2,884,961 5/59 Plante 'et al. 139166 3,048,196 8/62 Arcand 139165 3,126,922 3/64 Randlett et al. 139165 DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner 

1. A CHECK CONTROL FOR A PICKER STICK, COMPRISING A GUIDE ROD, CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED TO BE CENTRALLY SUPPORTED IN A LOOM AT A POINT ADJACENT TO THE PLANE OF OSCILLATION OF THE PICKER STICK AND HAVING CONNECTED GUIDE PORTIONS OPPOSITELY INCLINED WITH RESPECT TO SAID PLANE AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF ITS POINT OF SUPPORT, AND A STRAP PERFORATED NEAR ITS ENDS TO SLIDE ON THE INCLINED PORTIONS OF THE ROD WHEREBY ITS ENDS ARE SHITED LATERALLY AS IT IS SLIPPED TO AND FRO ON THE ROD BY THE ACTION OF THE PICKER STICK. 